Bring Me The Horizon are set to release four records under the title ‘Post Human’.
The Sheffield band are kicking off the extensive collection with the aggressive track ‘Parasite Eve’ this week, which is named after the PlayStation game of the same name, and came about after frontman Oli Sykes bizarrely read about a Japanese superbug before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
The new song – which is out at midnight – is in the same vein as their last single, ‘Ludens’, but Oli says each of the ‘Post Human’ albums will be "tonally different with their own sound and mood"
He explained: "This song is going to be part of a record that has the same feel along with [last year’s single] ‘Ludens’.
"We’ve just been winging it and recording from lockdown, and now we’re going to make four different records over the next year and they’ll all share the name ‘Post Human’. "They’ll each be tonally different with their own sound and mood. That’s one thing we’ve never really done.
"There’s often been an over-arching theme on our records, but the music has always felt like a collage. That’s cool and I like it, but sometimes you want a soundtrack for a certain occasion and emotion.
"The idea behind ‘Post Human’ is looking at how we’ve stepped out of evolution and the food chain.
"If we can do that, then we can take responsibility for what we’ve done to the planet and become something better than what humans are right now."
The new song was delayed because it felt "a little too close to the bone", however Oli has insisted that music needs to start addressing the world’s problems rather than escaping from them.
He said: "In our music we’ve always wanted to escape, but there’s been too much escapism and ignoring the problems in the world. It’s not what the world needs. The world needs more and needs to think about it and remember. You can’t just brush over it and expect life to go back to normal, because it f***ing ain’t.
"In so many ways, we need to change. That’s what rock music is about – addressing the dark side and processing it."
The ‘Drown’ rockers had gone in a poppier direction on their most recent albums, ‘amo’ and ‘That’s The Spirit’, but the ‘MANTRA’ hitmaker has insisted " the world doesn’t need light-hearted pop music right now".
He added to NME.com: "This first record is about hope and anger and feels like the sonic equivalent of a riot. We’re inviting people to find the solution with us.
"It’s a demonstration to pull you in and get your back up. It’s a lot more aggressive than anything we’ve done for a while. The world doesn’t need light-hearted pop music right now – it needs anthems for anger. There’s so much to be pissed off about."